


like normal people

by bnbc



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hope, Humor, Kissing, Partners in Crime, Professionals - Freeform, Romance, Short & Sweet, Slice of Life, corpo!v
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29836965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bnbc/pseuds/bnbc
Summary: Just one evening, V reminds herself. Like normal people. Like people who don't see buildings as possible battlefields. Like people who don't have to plan a date like it's a corporate army landing into enemy territory.Like people who don't expect their world to collapse at any second.
Relationships: Goro Takemura/V
Kudos: 24





	1. like normal people

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wizjer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizjer/gifts).
  * A translation of [Как нормальные люди](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/770451) by Ilnejin. 



> a set of 3 short stories :3  
> written for Valentine's Event on Arasaka Corp discord server
> 
> for wizjer, with love <3

V hacks the restaurant’s cameras just out of habit. 

While the maitre d' is checking his notes, she enters the local network, finds a table booked in her fake name, downloads the hall map into her system. Mark the location of the fire exits, dig deeper, to the level of utilities — here it is, a ventilation shaft. Not a perfect escape route, of course, but it’s still better than getting stuck at a height in case... 

In case of what, V asks herself. What could possibly go wrong?

And then she imagines how an armored "Arasaka" AV crashes into a panoramic window, breaking the fragile bulk of the Ring into thousands of glass fragments, and all of them are falling, falling, falling, tiny prisms refracting neon, light and screams. She can almost hear the sound of little glass pieces hitting the asphalt. 

The image ends up being too vivid: it looks more like Johnny's work, than something that her brain could usually come up with. However Johnny is not here, he just cannot be: V has been on the pill since the very morning. She checks the time, just in case, — no, it’s too early for taking one more, — and then she wipes all the stolen data out of her system’s memory, and disconnects from the net. 

And all of this happens before the maitre d' nods to himself, turns to them, and says with a smile: 

“Welcome to the Ring. Let me show you the way.”

V takes Goro by the arm, — he usually doesn’t encourage this, at least not in public, but this time he just turns to her a little and smiles, — and they walk through the restaurant’s hall just like normal people, the glass floor withstanding their steps easily. 

In fact, the floor is not made out of glass, it just looks like it: a new generation of lead-reinforced polycarbonate, jointly developed by ESA and “Orbital Air”, specially for space stations. The material is able to withstand the accidental impact of a small meteorite, so the "Arasaka" AV, which V has imagined, doesn’t stand a chance against it. She understands this in her head, but still walks with caution: the illusion is too perfect, the barrier that separates her from the city under her feet seems too fragile. 

Just one evening, V reminds herself. Like normal people. Like people who don't see buildings as possible battlefields. Like people who don't have to plan a date like it's a corporate army landing into enemy territory. 

Like people who don't expect their world to collapse at any second. 

It's hard to avoid this way of thinking, but V is sure she can handle it — all of this is her own idea, after all. 

She opens the menu: a genuine leather cover and real paper that has not gone through three or four recycling cycles. Of course, there is an electronic version as well: it is faster and more convenient, but V prefers the paper one. She likes how the Ring combines cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned, almost archaic little details, and V also likes to feel the texture of the pages under her fingertips: there are too much synthetics and digits in her life lately. 

“All the food here is organic,” she says to Goro right after the maitre d' leaves them alone. Then his glance shifts to the window — the light is dimmed, not to outshine the city lights, but the ocean is still not visible, even from such altitude. “Seafood isn’t local.”

“It is good news indeed,” Goro leans back in his chair. His hands are on the table, the metal inserts in his knuckles gleam softly in the diffused light. His menu stays closed. “It is a notable place. And we are too noticeable here.”

“Not at all. Look, the place is fully booked, and we don't stand out. And I don't see the sign “Wanted by "Arasaka” above us."

“V…”

“You are right, this is a little bit risky...”

At the words “a little bit” Goro raises his eyebrows slightly, but V continues:

“...but worth it.”

“A notable place”, he says again. “A popular one. And expensive as well.”

“Wakako paid well for her latest gig.”

V bites her tongue: she doesn't want to discuss business, especially the last job they did for the Lady of Westbrook estate; but Goro has something else on his mind.

“The restaurants like this usually have a queue to book a table. I would say, six months in advance.”

“You're exaggerating,” V says. “It’s only two months”. 

“It does not matter. Tell me, what did you do to get us here?”

V shrugs and turns the page, pretending to be very interested in meal composition.

“I did nothing special, just booked the table,” she says. Then adds casually: 

“Two months ago.”  
V gives Goro a glance and can hardly not smile: his fingers are now locked, brows furrowed. She knows exactly what's going on in his head now: the math. Not the most difficult one, but still. 

Yes, she had booked a table at the Ring long before she kissed Goro for the first time prior to their raid into the “Arasaka” warehouse. 

“What can I say? I'm an optimist, Goro.” V laughs and slams the menu. “And as an optimist, I tell you: relax and choose something for yourself. Everything will be just fine!”

V is right, everything is just fine: the food, the wine, the view of the city through the panoramic window which merges with the floor smoothly and seamlessly. No debris is visible from this height; thick "glass" suppresses the sounds of shooting and sirens; the city, beautiful and polished like an image in an expensive BD, rushes to the sky with dozens of skyscrapers, and it’s so easy to forget while looking at it that fifty years ago there was nothing here, but a radioactive wasteland.

And V forgets — about the city, about Panam, who is waiting for her at sunset tomorrow, about some info she promised to find for Regina, about the fact, that it is time to pay the rent, and about the time she bought from reality, which is still passing, so she almost drops the fork when a slightly familiar voice behind her says:

“Vesper?”

The armored "Arasaka" AV suddenly becomes a little closer to reality than she would like it to be. V gets goosebumps all over her back and arms; she goes through one terrible second of uncertainty while turning her head, and then she jumps up — perhaps, a little bit too hastily. 

“You look great!” says Adrian Planell, the youngest son of her mother’s best friend, and kisses the air next to V’s cheek. “I haven't seen you for ages, you just disappeared from all the radars.” 

“That’s the kind of job I have,” V hides relief behind a smile: that’s just Adrian, not someone of her former colleagues. However, another seed of panic is ripening somewhere in her chest: she never told her parents that she got fired from “Arasaka”. V’d better watch her words if she doesn’t want them to find out about it from the rumors.

“Top secret operations,” she says, making a terrifying face. “You get it.” 

“Are you undercover right now?” Adrian laughs. 

“Oh, no!” V shakes her head. “It’s a date”.

“That's good. If you were here for work, I wouldn't be imposing: too dangerous,” Adrian laughs again, and waves his hand, trying to get the waiter’s attention. “Let's sit and have a chat for a while, you don’t mind, do you?”

V does mind. She can’t see Goro, but she's sure he minds too. 

“Adrian,” V tries to put into her voice everything that she cannot say in words. “I have a date.”

“I won’t be long anyway,” he waves again, gesturing to the waiter that he needs a chair. “C’mon, Vesper, when will I see you again? By the way, what is the name of your date?”

V, of course, cannot say, “Meet Goro Takemura, a former bodyguard of Saburo Arasaka. I think you've heard about him: he was killed recently, all the news were talking about it. By the way, Goro is seen to be responsible for Saburo’s death, and half of the local “Arasaka” agents dream about finding him."

So V says the first thing that comes to her mind: 

“Hideshi Hino — a comedian.”

Adrian reaches out to shake Goro's hand and doesn't see V clenching her fists and closing her eyes tightly. 

Please play along, she thinks, and then sends Goro a message, “I'm sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” and takes her seat. 

“Hideshi, this is Adrian Planell,” V thinks for a second how to introduce him. Then she simply says: 

“A friend of the family.”

“I'm not a fan of stand-up, but I like your shows,” Adrian lies very naturally. “To be honest, I used to think you were an AI!”

“I am not an AI,” says Goro, looking like he is at a funeral. “As you can see, I am a comedian.”

V almost dreams for the floor beneath her to collapse.

“Adrian, how are you doing?” She asks quickly to change the subject. “For how long are you in Night City?”

“I'm leaving on the morning flight” Adrian taps on the table impatiently: either he is waiting for the waiter, whom he sent for a cocktail, or he is thinking about coming home as soon as possible. “Everything is fine: Jim and the girls are good, the eldest one has passed her driving test recently…”

While Adrian is talking about his kids, V sends Goro another message, but he doesn't check his phone.   
“So, Vesper, you still work for “Arasaka?”

“Twenty years contract, you know.”

“Oh, right, they are big biz guys. And I am actually surprised that the “Arasaka” employee has time for her personal life at all,” says Adrian. “How did you two meet?”

He looks at Goro while asking. Goro seems like he is not in the mood to improvise, so V has no choice, but to tell the truth: 

“It was on the gig. Oh, what a show! I was with a friend, we got tickets in the front row. It was truly hard to get there, so I was very nervous. When I saw… Hideshi for the first time, I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. It seemed to me that he was looking directly at me, another second, and he would pull me onto the stage.”

Goro sits with his fingers clasped again, and it seems to V that he will remain silent, leaving her to talk her way out of this situation. But he sighs and says: 

“Why would I pull you on stage? I am a comedian, not a magician.”

“But you saw me, didn't you? You found me later.”

“I saw you when you and your friend were leaving.”

“For real?” Adrian intervenes. “You just spotted her in a full crowd? And then found her easily?”

“It was not easy at all,” Goro shakes his head. “I had to work hard, searching and asking... some people. And to be honest, when I found Vesper, I did not recognize her immediately.”

“What can I say? It was a hell of a night...”

“And what happened then?” Adrian asks. “Or it was all sparkles and fireworks right from the start?”

“Then...” V tugs her lock, trying to figure out how to add the shootout with the corporation assassins into her story. 

“Then my... ex appeared, but I prefer not to talk about this,” Goro spreads his palms to the sides and nods towards the table nearest to them.”Too many ears around.” 

V catches Goro's eye and whispers with her lips only: "Thank you." 

“Hideshi, has anyone told you that you are too serious for a comedian? Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I am not offended at all. I am a professional: I only joke if I get paid for it,” he turns away from Adrian, looks V in the eyes. “Vesper, I am afraid we must go. Let us pay at the exit. Adrian, it was a pleasure to meet you. ”

While V and Adrian are going through the kissing air ritual again, V grabs his shoulder with her fingers and whispers quickly: 

“Don't talk about us, okay? I want to tell my parents myself.”

“I promise,” Adrian says, and this time V can't tell if he's lying or not. 

They ride in the elevator in silence. The Ring is located on the 120th floor, so by the time the doors open, there seems to be no air left in the elevator cabin: it’s full of tension and almost palpable silence. A warm wind strokes V’s face, but doesn’t bring her any relief — a thundercloud is still hanging over their heads. 

“Let’s have a walk?” suggests V. Goro shrugs. 

Normal people, V thinks. Normal people would go to the main street — a bright and beautiful one, and as safe as possible for Night City. 

But they are not normal people, they are just them, and they’d better stop pretending, nothing good comes from it, just problems.

“I’m sorry,” V says as they turn into a darker street that goes somewhere in the direction of the promenade. “I didn't think we would meet someone I know. I mean, I thought of it, of course, but I hoped that it wouldn’t happen.”

“You have not told them, have you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have not told your family that you were fired. Why?”

V hides her hands in the jacket pockets and raises her shoulders slightly. 

“I didn't want to upset them?” She says. “I thought I could fix everything somehow? Then I wouldn't have to say anything at all…”

The street leads to the parking lot in front of the office building. Looks like it’s reserved for the big shots: those who haven't got high enough are supposed to leave their cars underground. Exit to the promenade is right behind the parking lot. The guard in the booth gives them a suspicious look, but doesn’t pull them back — the park is almost empty.

“And about your… condition?” asks Goro after a pause. “Have you told them about it?”

“Of course not.”

"Don’t you think they should know?"

V freezes. Goro takes a couple of steps by inertia, then feels that she isn’t by his side anymore and turns around. 

“And what about you?” askes V, not hiding her anger. “Have you told your family? Have you called to Japan with the news that you got kicked out? You haven't, right? Then what the hell?!”

Her voice echoes off the walls and V gets silent. She looks at Goro sullenly, he looks back, downward, but without contempt or superiority. They start speaking at the same time: 

“Goro, I...”

“Vesper…”

They grin at the same time, too, then Goro steps forward and hugs her, and V nuzzles into his shoulder and feels her hair denting under his palm.

“I hate lying to them,” she admits and closes her eyes. “But I don’t know how to talk about it anymore. I should’ve done it right away, but now... no, I won't say anything yet. I'll tell them everything if I get cured.”

“When you get cured, V,” Goro says strictly, and then kisses the top of her head. “No “ifs”, you are my optimist after all.”

V snorts softly, then lifts her face and Goro kisses the corner of her smiling lips. 

Normal people don’t… actually it doesn’t matter at all what normal people do and don’t do. If they were normal people with normal lives, they would never have met each other, nor kissed in the middle of an empty parking lot, under the indifferent gaze of a bored guard.

...although the guard certainly can’t see them at all because V has already turned off all the cameras.


	2. the killing type

The gig turns out to be tricky. 

This sometimes happens with the jobs Wakako Okada gives. Recently, more often than not, so V even thinks to quit answering her calls. Wakako is a big fish indeed; every Japantown fixer asks themselves “what will Lady of Westbrook estate think of this?” before even moving their finger; but this is just one district, the city is big, and there are enough gigs for her…

No, there is absolutely no reason to quarrel with Wakako, but V can still just... politely refuse her. She can recall past surprises, even laugh at them, and then recommend another merc — there is some etiquette after all — but V knows that it is pointless. 

If Wakako wants V to do a job for her, she will simply pull the right string. To the fixer’s credit, V didn’t immediately realize just how much she was stuck in her web. 

One day Wakako did her and Goro a favor, giving them the parade data they needed so badly. Goro then said that things that cost nothing turn out to have the highest price, and he was right: he still felt indebted to Wakako. 

The sense of duty. A perfect hook. No doubt, the elderly spider knew what she was doing when she gave them the data chip for free.

The real question was: did Wakako realize back when she was attaching her thread to Goro's back, that with one simple trick she would lure two flies into her web at once? 

V is pretty sure that she understood everything. 

The streets of Night City are painted with graffiti calling to eat the rich and to burn their property; every local is ready to tell a story of how corporations destroyed their lives. They spit on the ground, cursing "Biotechnica" or "Arasaka", but their city lives by the same laws as all corps. 

Invisible threads of mutual ties, careless oaths, old debts, and forgotten mistakes permeate Night City like the remains of the old Net. In order to survive here, you need to not only possess information, but also understand your place in the food chain. 

V is familiar with this cultural context, so she saves time — hers, Wakako’s, Goro’s — and accepts the gig.

The job seems simple: infiltrate the building, get to the target and capture him. Kazuo Mori has climbed quite high within Tyger Claws’ hierarchy, but this is not Wakako’s first time working against her own. The client wants Mori alive or dead; the latter is not an option at all — V made it clear long time ago that she doesn’t kill. 

Everything is going quite well at first. 

The building's net breaks down at the snap of the fingers, and V looks through all the available cameras on the floor. Then she records a short video from each of them, puts them on a loop, and sends them to the security post: the leaves of holographic flowers placed along the corridors tremble slightly, creating the illusion of life, the illusion of time passing — just what she needs.

The gallery between the buildings has been closed for repairs for a year now: state of emergency, risk of collapse, do not enter. The door is welded tightly, so they have to get out through a gap in the wall, then reach the roof of the gallery, walk over the street, jump onto the site of a rusted fire escape, carefully climb a couple of flights, and here it is — the floor they need. 

The electronic lock gives in in a couple of minutes, the pathway is clear. 

Goro enters first, V follows him a couple of steps behind; her consciousness is bifurcated as usual, the neuroprocessor easily processes both optics and network data streams. Her weapon is set to non-lethal mode, but it won’t be needed: the cameras still broadcast the void recorded by V, so they proceed moving forward like ghosts. 

Like thieves. 

They find their target in the bedroom: there is no surveillance here, just like Wakako warned. What she didn’t warn about are four cars decorated with tasteless ribbons, coming up to the entrance at this very moment.

While Kazuo Mori is nervously sweating, and stares into the black pupil of the muzzle of her gun, V watches through the foyer cameras as people are getting out of their cars. Happily drunk crowd. They are decently dressed, but only at first glance: V can immediately see the difference between the real Jinguji and the counterfeit sewn in the basements of Little China. 

Although the bride is wearing the real thing, what a surprise.

V connects to microphones; her lingvo implant asks if she needs translation from Russian and Polish. She already guessed what answer she is going to get, but she still checks several people through the police database.

The bride's name is Nadia Zabrodskaya: wanted for robbery, theft, grievous bodily harm. The note about indecent behavior seems almost touching among her other sins. Nadia’s groom — her now husband — also has a murder on his list. 

And the main hobby the newlyweds share: illegal implants trade.

Scavenger's wedding.

V couldn't think of anything worse: they still haven't calmed down after that Dorsett gig. V has been breaking their networks sometimes to stay up-to-date, and every now and then she stumbled across mentions of her and Jackie's work. 

They were not searching for her specifically, but they didn't forgive her.

This way out is no longer available: even if Mori agrees to play along, one of the Scavengers may recognize V, and then things will... get complicated. And there is not a single chance that they will be able to pull Mori out quietly the same way that they came here. 

V almost physically feels the time is running out: sooner or later, someone will notice her interference in the network. 

“I don’t see a problem here, V, you can still close this gig,” Wakako says after V outlines the situation very quickly and very politely — she is angry, but the fixer doesn’t need to know about it. 

“I'm not a killer,” V reminds her. 

“I know. By the way, have I told you what exactly Mori does? ”

Wakako starts off from afar, as if they have all the time in the world, but V needs only a few words to get the gist of it: children. 

No matter what they say on the streets, Wakako Okada has her soft spot. 

A while ago, in the mid-forties, “Arasaka” killed her grandson: if you ask around the right people, you can still hear this story. But without any details — this is Night City, after all, things like that happen here all the time. And nobody can remember anymore, neither the reason nor even the name. 

Human memory is unreliable, but databases are the opposite, so V knows the name: Kou. 

V also knows the reason: it was revenge for the fact that "Claws" jumped off “Arasaka’s’’ hook and had Japantown for themselves. No matter how good Wakako was at hiding, acting using other people’s hands, someone got to the bottom of the truth and found out that she was behind it. 

V also knows that Kou was only seven. 

And while Wakako is describing what Mori did with the children he bought, V thinks that she could have probably worked with someone who gave the order to kill her grandson: greeted them in an elevator, chatted with them near a water cooler, discussed with them that entertainment shows at "54 News" are not the same as they used to be during the morning coffee...

Someone at “Arasaka” killed a child just to put the woman who crossed the corporation's path in her place.

V couldn’t possibly do something like that. Perhaps that's why she ended up on the street. 

But when Wakako stops talking, she repeats stubbornly: 

“I'm not a killer.” 

“But I am,” says Goro, with whom V shares a communications link, and shoots Mori in the temple. 

The shot is almost inaudible because of the silencer, but V still flinches. She, of course, had already seen Goro killing. He does it without cruelty, but without hesitation either. 

Like a soldier accustomed to following orders.

Like a bodyguard ready to pull the trigger at any second. 

Like an exile, determined to pay any price in order to obtain retribution. 

...or almost any price: no matter how hard she tries V just cannot imagine him as an agent who shot little Kou. It's funny: a while ago she couldn't even fathom that there can be a difference between killers. Now she knows it. 

However, “soldier”, “bodyguard”, “exile”, even “killer” are nothing more than labels, and when V looks at Goro, she sees not them, but a human being. Perhaps that is why she so often and so easily forgets about this side of him. 

And V loves this man too. The man who sometimes kills.

“The gig is closed,” says Wakako. “It's a pleasure working with you. With both of you.” 

...V randomly recalls that “Kou” means “happiness”, and she no longer doubts that the client of this job is Wakako herself.


	3. slipping through the fingers

“Anything serious?” V asks. “Should I come over?”

She speaks quietly, almost whispers, so as not to wake Goro, but he had already woken up the moment he felt that she was no longer by his side. It used to come from his mind — keeping an eye on how V is, worrying about her as his only witness, — but later it became a habit, almost a reflex.

V is at the other end of the room, as far away as the hotel room allows her to be. Her arms folded across her chest, her shoulders tense; the lights of neon billboards filtering through the half-closed blinds glide over her naked skin as V moves — just five steps from the wall to the window.

“So nobody is hurt, right?”

V runs her fingers along the slats of the blinds. She freezes for a few seconds, pulling one of them, and Goro can’t take his eyes off her lips and her neck, illuminated in neon light. 

And not so long ago he was sure that nothing beautiful could exist in Night City. 

Being mistaken could sometimes be very pleasant. 

“No, don’t apologize. Everything is fine. I’m actually glad you told me.”

She lets go of the blinds and turns over her shoulder. The billboard outside the window changes its advertisements and blue streaks of light turn into gold ones. Both are her colors. 

“I did wake you up,” V notices.

“I woke up myself,” Goro raises himself on his elbow. “Was it one of the fixers?”

“Even worse,” V comes closer and sits on the edge of the bed, bending her leg under herself. V’s warm knee touches his hip. “Misty called: Nibbles fought a stray cat.”

Goro is surprised at first, then he remembers: V mentioned she was going to the Badlands for a few days, so she brought her pet to Vik. 

“You know, I saw him, even before going to Konpeki Plaza,” V continues. “And, frankly, I thought it was Nibbles all along: like he lived there before, and then moved to my megabuilding. But it turned out there were two different cats. ”

Or two bakeneko, Goro thinks. This fake city’s streets are the right place for shapeshifter cats: they can hide in the shadows, watch, listen, and wait.

There is nothing here left for the living cats for a long time.

So bakeneko showed up to V when she was preparing for the heist. It is a pity that she didn’t know then that this was a bad omen: maybe it would have made her reconsider, even refuse the contract that crippled her life. They would have never met in this case, but...

Goro realizes that V would hardly listen to such a trifle as a bad omen, but he sometimes likes to imagine a version of reality in which she isn't dying.

“What are you thinking about?” V asks.

About the fact that you can disappear, Goro wants to say. About you slipping through my fingers like water no matter how tightly I hold you. About you have just one chance and no guarantees.

About how much I am afraid of losing you, he wants to say, but he just shakes his head and only then notices that he has been mindlessly stroking her knee. As if he stopped touching her even for a second, both her knee and the whole V herself would simply vanish into thin air. 

Although when he removes his hand, V is still there, she even smiles; her optics shine softly as if absorbing all the light in the room, and Goro thinks that her eyes look like stars. 

It sounds ridiculous and trite even in his head, but he isn’t afraid to seem ridiculous nor trite, and he says it out loud. 

“That's just contact lenses,” V laughs softly. “You can have something like this too, I can ask Vik if you want. He knows where to get them.”

“I did not mean the way they look.”

Goro gets her hair away from her face, runs the pad of his thumb over her cheekbone, and lingers slightly at her temple. 

“When you smile, your eyes illuminate everything.”

V, of course, immediately smiles again and presses her cheek against his palm. 

Goro wants to hug her as tightly as possible, but he knows that the flowing water can’t be held by force, so he lightly pulls V towards him. Then he gently, barely touches one of the light spots on her collarbone with his lips, and doesn’t hear, but feels how her breathing has interrupted for a second. 

...somewhere far below, shapeshifter cats roam the ghostly streets of the lifeless city, foreshadowing misfortune to anyone who sees them. But signs can be interpreted in different ways: after all, bakeneko not only bring misfortune — they also know how to bring the dead back to life. 

Maybe this means that there will be one more chance — for both of them?


End file.
